Ireland could generate as many as 74,000 tourism jobs by 2020, industry insiders claim.

The Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) estimates that Ireland would need around 10 million visitors per year in order to create and sustain such a level of employment in the tourism sector. But is this possible?

Last year there were 7 million visitors to Ireland. To reach the 10 million figure, the industry requires a year-on-year growth rate of 6 per cent. It might sound optimistic, but it is also plausible: the number of visitors to Ireland last year showed a 7.2 per cent increase on the previous year.

However, according to the view expressed by IHF President Stephen McNally in the Irish Independent,  sustaining that kind of growth requires funding. Creating and promoting an image of Ireland as a highly desirable place for tourists to visit is a costly enterprise, yet since 2009 Tourism Marketing Fund's resources has been reduced by €10 million.

Mr McNally also believes that investment in the tourism infrastructure in Ireland is essential to delivering a quality holiday experience for overseas visitors. He suggests that a sum of around €30 million would help realise initiatives such as the Wild Atlantic Way driving route (a 2,500km coastal drive from Donegal to Cork), which would regenerate tourist numbers in inaccessible or out of the way spots.

He calculates that bringing in an additional 3 million visitors to Ireland would effect a revenue stream of €540 million per year, and would bring the number of people in tourism employment up from today's figure of 196,000 to 270,000 by 2020.

Dublin is a small town compared to the vast metropolis of London. But when it comes to IT real estate, things are considerably closer than you might expect. The Irish Independent cites a Colliers International report which claims that the tech market in Dublin has been so successful in securing corporate property deals that it's now close to overtaking the tech real estate market in London.

Between 2008 and 2012 alone, major US technology companies invested €95 billion in Ireland. This is approximately the same amount as they invested across all of developing Asia.

'Tech firms are saying that Dublin offers them young and fresh talent in abundance,' said Paul Finucane, director at Colliers International. 'The city has also proved its ability to attract talent from abroad, with 55 per cent of the positions in the information and communications sectors coming from abroad to work in Dublin.

'Now Dublin is hot on the heels of London for the title of Europe's Silicon Valley.'

The Colliers report also posited Ireland as the fastest-growing country in Europe for data centre operators.

Irish consumers spent in the region of €3.7 billion online in 2012. Unfortunately, almost three-quarters of that sum went to websites based outside of Ireland. To help maximise the potential of their online presence, Google has announced that it will hold a series of free admission breakfast briefings to help Irish businesses understand how they can benefit from developing more competitive online strategies.

The breakfast briefings will begin on Friday, February 21 and continue on a monthly basis thereafter. The series will cover all things digital and will take place in Google’s European HQ on Barrow Street in Dublin.

‘Ireland is one of the fastest-growing online retail markets in the world with 60 per cent of Irish adults shopping online,’ said Cera Ward, country manager, large customer sales, Google Ireland.

‘We want Irish businesses to be in a position to sell to Irish consumers and reclaim revenues that have been going to overseas websites.

‘We work on a daily basis with Europe’s top businesses, on digital innovation and making the internet work for your business. We know what is required to succeed online so we’ve developed a digital curriculum for Irish businesses that will cover all aspects of digital innovation for the online market in Ireland. It is possible to learn all about digital and these events are a must for any Irish business wanting to learn how to grow in this space.’

The idea of the breakfast briefings has clearly sparked much interest, with the first briefing already being booked out. However, registrations will open in early March for the second in the series (which will take place on 28 March) and will cover the subject of website usability.

Organisations working with Irish emigrants can now apply for financial assistance via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Emigrant Support Programme (ESP), which has a resource pool of approximately €11.5 million for the year.

Applications for the fund will close on February 19.

ESP overview

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs:

'The programme provides financial support to organisations engaged in the delivery of front line advisory services and community care to Irish emigrants, particularly to the more vulnerable and marginalised members of our community abroad, including the elderly.

While the support of frontline welfare services continues to be the priority of the ESP, the expansion of the programme has enabled the Government to invest in a range of cultural, community and heritage projects, which foster a vibrant sense of Irish community and identity, as well as strategic capital projects. These grants are a key of the Government’s approach to developing strong and meaningful links with Irish communities overseas and to securing the long term future of these communities.'

To read the entire ESP overview, click here. To access a guide to the application form, click here.

The recent spate of ill-weather may be a real dampener on Irish spirits, but it seems that the Irish economy's prospects are somewhat brighter.

According to a survey by Deloitte, 96 per cent of Ireland's chief financial officers believe that the Irish economy has either returned to growth or will do so later in 2014. Ninety per cent of them are confident that unemployment levels will drop. Indeed, this optimism seems to be supported by figures reported in today's press, with unemployment rate now down to 12.3 per cent - the nineteenth successive month in decline.

This growing sense of confidence bodes well for job seekers as employers increasingly seek to take on new staff.

An Ibec Business Sentiment Survey found that hiring intentions among both domestic and foreign companies had increased significantly.

'The challenge is to keep the positive momentum going,' said Ibec’s Head of Policy and Chief Economist, Fergal O’Brien. 'We must now look to reduce the burden of tax on the economy by reducing personal tax rates in the next budget. We also need to invest more in the future,' he said.

'We still have significant infrastructure gaps that need to be urgently addressed.'